Canals, drainage ditches, irrigation channels, and the like frequently are contaminated with debris such as the limbs of trees, tires, bottles, cans, and large blocks of ice. If such debris is permitted to enter a pump or other water treating apparatus, such apparatus could be severely damaged or ruined. It is the practice, therefore, to protect such apparatus by the provision of a rack or strainer mounted in the water upstream from the apparatus to be protected. Such a rack or strainer, however, can become so clogged with trash and other debris as to terminate or severely restrict the flow of water to the pump or other apparatus.
To minimize the effects of rack clogging, it has been customary to provide a cleaning mechanism for stripping debris from the strainer. All of the known forms of cleaning mechanisms have bars or rods which traverse either the upstream or downstream side of the rack, engage debris collected by such rack, and carry it in a direction, usually upwardly, leading to a collection and disposal unit.
In many instances material clogging a rack is too heavy to be supported by the cleaning mechanism. In such cases, it is not unusual for the cleaning mechanism to be broken or severely damaged, thereby precluding cleaning of the rack until such time as repairs or replacements can be made. In some instances the need for repair or replacement is not detected in sufficient time to prevent flooding due to clogging of the rack.
Apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention overcomes the problems associated with trash rack cleaning mechanisms of the kind heretofore in use.